There's Something About Dave
by VectorCrocodileFangirl
Summary: /DISCONTINUED, TO BE REWRITTEN/ - /Drake x Dave/..that Drake just can't seem to get enough of.
1. Waking the Dead

**A/N: **This story is relatively unedited other than very quickly looking over and plug into an online grammar checker, so if you spot any mistakes, let me know. Also feel free to drop constructive criticism.

* * *

**There's Something About Dave  
**_Chapter One_

Maxim Horvath was not lying when he said that the Parasite Spell was particularly nasty; it was more common for sorcerers on the receiving end of the spell to die than not. Of course, it wasn't a _given_ that they would do so; it could sometimes take days for a person to die from the effects of the parasite spell, and it was often quite painful to boot, which was what made the spell so popular amongst the Morganians.

Drake Stone was one of the lucky few who did not have to experience the crippling pain that came with one's bodily functions shutting down, one by one, until the spell reached the heart, lungs and brain. His body simply went numb from the moment Horvath's cane left his neck, and whether this was the man's intention or not was unclear; he certainly didn't _like_ Drake by any stretch of the imagination, with his complete ineptitude and horrible taste in pretty much everything, but he had been useful to a certain extent and deserved, at the very least, a painless death. Instead he sat there, dimly aware of the goings on around him but helpless to do anything about it. Even as Horvath dragged him into his bedroom to keep the Merlinians from finding him upon their arrival he was very much awake, although it was impossible to tell. And had the dedicated Morganian been dealing solely with Balthazar Blake, it was entirely possible that he would simply die there, face half buried in the plush carpet of his nouveau-riche apartment.

But he was _not_ dealing solely with Balthazar Blake, which Drake would, in the future, be eternally grateful for.

* * *

It was probably around seven or eight in the evening when Dave and Becky returned from their impromptu visit to France, both relatively unscathed aside from Dave's eardrums being slightly abused thanks to Becky's shrill screaming whenever the eagle decided to be cheeky and do crazy flying tricks. Of course, this also lead to Becky clinging to him for dear life, which he honestly couldn't complain about.

The two of them stumbled into Dave's apartment, laughing uncontrollably, Becky literally doubled over in laughter. Balthazar, who was sitting at the table with Veronica, looked up at soon as he heard the door close and the raucous laughter travel inside.

"Did you two kids have fun?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. The two of them stood up straight, the last few giggles escaping them as they caught their breath. "I'll take that as a yes." he said, looking at Veronica and smiling. She smiled back and turned back towards Becky and Dave.

"Sorry about running off without saying anything." Dave said. Becky walked over and collapsed on his couch, ignoring the various garbage strewn about, which Dave couldn't help but get embarrassed by now that he noticed it. He cleared his throat and turned slightly red, grabbing some of the nearest garbage into the trash bin. Balthazar raised an eyebrow at him.

"You saved the world, Dave, you deserved it," he replied, his version of a 'no need to apologize'. "Dave, you've mastered your powers. No need to clean by hand any more." Dave pursed his lips and shook his head.

"I think I'm still a little traumatized by the _last_ magic cleaning venture, so I'll just stick to the old fashioned way, thanks," he said, walking over to the table they were sitting at and clearing off the old pizza boxes and chocolate bar wrappers. "Besides, Prime Merlinian or not, I'd rather have my ring back before I cast any magic unless I _have_ to." Giving him a little smile, Balthazar reached into his coat and pulled out Horvath's cane, with the three stolen sorcerer charms still attached to it. He pulled Merlin's ring off of the end of it and tossed it to Dave, who just barely managed to catch it.

He opened his mouth to thank him for retrieving his ring, but like always, Balthazar saw it coming and held up his hand. "No need to thank me, it's yours after all." Dave just smiled at him and slipped the ring back on his finger, admiring the way the little silver dragon shook its head before settling down.

"Hey, what _happened _to Horvath? What did you do with him?" he asked, not having been around for the cleanup after the battle. Balthazar and Veronica exchanged a look, and Dave narrowed his eyes in slight confusion. "He didn't.. get _away_, did he?" he asked.

"When we went to go take care of him, he was already gone," Veronica replied, folding her hands together on the table. "It's really nothing to worry about, though; without his channelling item, he's completely powerless as a sorcerer." Balthazar nodded in agreement, and Dave did the same. He looked at the cane and very suddenly realized that the other two stolen rings were still attached to it, including the one belonging to the obnoxious entertainer with the gaudy clothing who had been with Horvath most of the time the Morganian had been chasing him. Drake Stone.

"Hey, Balthazar, can I see Horvath's cane for a second?" he asked. Balthazar gave him a strange look, but didn't question him, handing over the cane. Dave untied the pentagram necklace from the cane before slipping the second ring off of it. "What do you think happened to that little girl? And that Drake guy?" he asked, holding up the two sorcerer's charms for emphasis.

"Knowing Horvath, he probably used the Parasite Spell to steal their energy to break the seal on the Morgana layer of the Grimhold," Balthazar explained. "They're probably dead by now." Dave nodded and pursed his lips, tucking the two charms into his pocket.

"That's, uh.. unfortunate." he said, fingering the illusionist's ring in particular. He was about to turn away when he opened his mouth to speak, but closed it and shook his finger as though telling himself not to speak. This obviously didn't escape Balthazar's notice, because he cleared his throat to grab his apprentice's attention as Dave turned once again to walk away.

"Something on your mind?" he asked. Dave turned back towards him and narrowed his eyebrows.

"That.. doesn't bother you? The fact that Horvath just.. did that to them?" he asked. Balthazar shrugged a little.

"Not really," he replied, putting his hand over Veronica's on the table almost subconsciously. Dave gave him an almost disbelieving look, and he sighed. "It's a _war, _Dave. People die in wars. And it's always better when it's the enemy dying." Dave scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I, uh.. I guess that makes sense," There was a slightly awkward silence, and so he turned towards the couch and coughed. "Hey, uh, Becky? Do you want a ride home?" he asked. Becky sat up, fixing her hair.

"Yeah, sure, thanks." she said, standing up. As Dave moved back towards the door, he turned back towards Balthazar and Veronica.

"I don't think Bennet is coming home tonight, but if he does, just tell him your my aunt and uncle or something," he explained. Balthazar gave a little nod, then turned to Veronica and leaned towards her, whispering in her ear as the other happy couple left.

* * *

"Thanks for driving me home, Dave," Becky said, leaning in and kissing Dave on the side of the mouth before she got out of the car. Dave turned as tomato red as a teenager on his first date, which she smiled at. "Drive carefully, okay?" He smiled at her, his adorable dorky smile, and nodded.

"Definitely. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" She nodded and slammed the door behind herself, walking backwards towards the door to her apartment building.

"I'll be waiting." she replied, waving to him as she slipped inside. He watched her for a few more moments, as she fumbled through her purse to find the key to the inner door, before driving off. Really, he was more than glad to drive Becky home, even if it _was_ in Balthazar's obnoxious British car, but it had been more of a reason to get out of the apartment than anything. Balthazar may not have cared about the two Morganians, but Dave couldn't in good conscience ignore them. There was, after all, the chance that they were still alive, if Balthazar said that they were _probably _dead by now.

After much weaving through traffic, he pulled up outside the building where Drake Stone's penthouse was located. There was, of course, nothing to say that the two Morganian's were even _here_, since they hadn't seen them when they'd gone looking for the Grimhold, but it was the only place he could think of.

He felt sort of awkward walking through the fancy lobby towards the penthouse elevator, even more so when the receptionist gave him a little sneer, and he made a tight fist as he stopped in front of the doors. He made a motion like he was swiping a key card in order to mask the true nature of how he was breaking into the apartment using magic, like Balthazar had, and tried very hard not to make eye contact with anyone until the elevator arrived and he stepped inside, slumping against the wall as it carried him up the many floors. When he reached the top he quickly jumped out and switched the lights on; it didn't look like anyone else had been through there since he, Balthazar, Becky and Horvath had, presumably waiting for the owner of the penthouse's say so.

After extensive searching, he found the first victim hidden carefully in a small closet-type storage room off of the main living room area, where the Grimhold had been kept; it was the little witch girl, Abigail Williams. He checked her neck and wrist for a pulse and found nothing, and cringed; she may have been a Morganian, but she didn't deserve this. He stumbled out of the closet and into the other room where he managed to open a window and stick his head out of it, breathing deeply. Living in Manhattan he'd seen plenty of dead bodies on television, but this was his first time seeing one in person. Leaving the corpse of the girl after much deliberation and finally deciding that it was best left to someone with little more of an idea of what they were doing, he reluctantly began searching for the other sorcerer, Drake; he couldn't imagine Horvath would go to the trouble of hiding him somewhere else, provided he'd also been attacked here, and there was always the chance _he_ wasn't dead. He searched every room thoroughly and was almost convinced that he wasn't there until he walked right into the master bedroom, the last room to check, and found him lying face down in the carpet. He ran over to him and flipped him over, putting his head to his chest and finding a heart beat.

"Oh man, you're still alive," he gasped, looking at his face. Drake's eyes were glassy and dull, his skin was pale, and his veins were frighteningly clear beneath his skin, but his slow-but-steady pulse and the faint rise and fall of his chest didn't lie. Dave opened and closed his mouth a few times, flexing his hands uncertainly; he really hadn't been anticipating that he'd _find_ one of them alive, even if that had been the whole point of his coming here, and he had absolutely no idea what to do. It wasn't as simple as it had been with Balthazar; there all he'd had to do was jolt his heart back to life, a simple matter of resuscitation that would have been just as possible with a defibrillator. But Drake's problem wasn't that his heart wasn't beating.

Dave put both of his hands on Drake's chest and closed his eyes tightly, clearing his mind as per his training. Okay, the Parasite Spell. Really, he hadn't known that there was even a spell _called_ that until earlier when Balthazar had mentioned that was what Horvath had probably used, but it was a spell, so it couldn't be _that_ difficult to figure out. He was the Prime Merlinian after all. He bit his lower lip and tried to focus, _really_ focus, without clouding his mind.

And suddenly there it was, coursing through Drake's veins in a spectrum of light invisible to the mortal eye. Static blue, the spells residual effects filtered through Drake's body, rendering him in a state of near death. The Parasite Spell was dangerously close to reaching vital organs and thus shutting down important bodily functions, a fact which really didn't help how nervous Dave was. Even if Drake had followed Horvath around like a lost puppy and assisted him in his plans, the idea of a mistake on his part causing his death was petrifying at best. He wasn't about to be responsible for _anyone's_ death (well, aside from Morgana of course, but that was a different matter entirely as she had been threatening the destruction of the entire world). Feeling the static-like charge in the air that came with the use of magic surge around him, he tried very hard to focus on the source of the spell's power, slowly starting to draw it out of his body. It manifested itself as a physical blue glow around Dave's hands as he pulled it from Drake's body, and after about a minute he fell back to rest against his heels, shaking his hands to dispel the vile magic like water.

"Okay, time to get up now," he gasped, a few beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. The solution may have been simple, but it didn't make it any less tiring. He leaned forwards again and gave Drake a light pat on the cheek, tilting his head to the side. His eyes were still open and glassy, but colour was starting to return to his skin, which could only be a good sign. "Come on, get _up_." he prompted, shaking him a little.

Very suddenly, Drake's eyes cleared and he jolted up, almost knocking Dave backwards. He let out a loud gasp, drawing as much air into his lungs as he possibly could, which caused him to dissolve into a coughing fit. Unsure of what more to do, Dave just pat his back as he choked. Once it had passed and Drake cleared his throat a few times, he immediately pulled his hand away and kind of moved back, quite unsure of what Drake was going to do. To be perfectly honest, he didn't think Drake was particularly _evil_; a little malicious, perhaps, but he struck him more as an upgraded high school bully than a truly evil man. Still, there was always the chance he was wrong about that, and he really didn't want to chance it. So he just sat back and waited for Drake's reaction.

* * *

Drake could not say that he enjoyed his time under the influence of the Parasite Spell. He was literally left to lie there and wait for his death, a death that could take hours or even days to reach him, and he could do nothing about it; even if he could move, his ring had been taken from him and he most likely didn't have the knowledge or spell casting ability to be able to reverse the effects. It was the most emotionally wrenching thing he'd ever had to experience, knowing he was going to die here thanks to trusting someone no reasonable person would have.

He'd all but accepted the fact when he had heard activity in his apartment, the primary sounds being frenzied footsteps. He didn't let himself get too excited about the fact; most likely it was just one of his employees or some other normal person. He highly doubted that Horvath had had a change of heart, or that the Merlinians had decided to come looking for him. Of course, he was completely right on the first account; Horvath had vanished following the battle that ended in Morgana's defeat (not that he knew that). On the second account, however, he was quite mistaken, which he realized when the Prime Merlinian, Dave if he remembered correctly, stumbled into the room and looked at him with a surprised 'Oh man, you're still alive'. Of course, he could only judge this from his voice and the small but of peripheral vision the carpet allowed him.

He heard soft, carpeted footfalls, and was quickly turned onto his back where he could see the silhouette of the young sorcerer in the darkness, illuminated only by the light from the hallway. A head was put to his chest and when it was confirmed that he was alive, Dave visibly debated what to do for a few seconds before he felt hands on his chest. Within moments after that he felt a strong pulling sensation, followed by an odd tingling starting in the tips of his toes and slowly working its way up. Then, with a snap, he felt himself being pulled back into the world of the living, along with some verbal encouragement from Dave. His lungs were desperate for air, and he gasped to appease them, but he simply started coughing. As Dave patted him on the back to help him through it, he felt a deep, unimaginable gratitude for the saving of his life. After all he'd done, he hadn't expected to be saved by _anyone_, particularly not the guy he'd been actively trying to kill this entire time. He cleared his throat a few times, his entire body shuddering, and watched as Dave backed away slightly. He turned to look at him, gasping.

"You.. saved me. Th.. thank you." he said, unable to express his gratitude any other way. He clutched his chest, breathing as though he had just run a mile. Feeling was slowly returning to his lower body, but he kept a hand on the floor to keep himself balanced.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Dave replied, clapping his hands together. He looked torn between being uncertain and grinning, obviously quite proud of himself. "You don't need to thank me, I just.. did what I had to do." Drake looked at him, face flushed and lips slack. His brain could hardly formulate an idea at _all_, much less one for how to properly express his thanks. He stuttered a little, trying to push out at least another thank you, but the only thing his brain managed to come up with was to put his hands on either side of Dave's face and pull him forwards, crushing their lips together in something that vaguely resembled a kiss. He could feel Dave stiffen and freeze under his hands, but he merely focused on pecking quick kisses to Dave's pursed lips. He would have been tempted to add little thank you's between each peck had what little was left of his rationality not realized that was a little _too_ desperate, and even after having his life inexplicably saved that was not something he was willing to do.

Dave shocked him by returning his last few kisses, if only for brief moments at a time. When he pulled away, he kept his hands on either side of the younger man's face.

"I'm so sorry for trying to kill you. You are by _far_ my favourite person of all time."

* * *

Dave practically had a heart attack when Drake grabbed his face and kissed him without any sort of hesitation, couldn't help but let his eyes widen as he started to press quick, smaller kisses to his lips. Towards the end he caught himself puckering his lips to meet each kiss as it came. He wasn't entirely sure _why_ he did- his brain really wasn't in control of the rest of him at the moment. When Drake finally pulled away from him, apologizing for the whole trying to kill him thing and declaring him as his favourite person ever, he merely stared back, lips flapping like he was _trying_ to say something but merely couldn't force the words out. A sudden realization seemed to light up Drake's face and he pulled his hands away from Dave's face, pointing at him with both.

"Sorry, knee-jerk reaction. I, uh.. yeah." He pulled his hands back, balling them near his chest and grimacing in an embarrassed manner. Dave shrugged and clapped his hands, determinedly _not_ meeting Drake's eyes.

"No, no, it's fine. I get knee jerk reactions like that _all_ the time," he said, giving him an awkward thumbs up. _They just usually don't involve kissing other men. _"I'm _very_ happy that you're alive and all, but I really need to get going. Balthazar doesn't know I'm _here_, you see, and I don't think he'd be very happy about me helping a Morganian.. I mean, not to say that you didn't deserve to be helped or anything, Balthazar just has this _thing_-" Drake put up a hand in the universal 'stop' gesture.

"I get it. He doesn't like Morganians. It's understandable. We're not a particularly likeable bunch," he said, nodding a little. He stood up and straightened his clothes, fumbling against the wall to find a light switch, until he found it and turned the lights on. Dave blinked a few times, his eyes having adjusted to the darkness, but Drake completely covered his eyes with his arms. It was pretty obvious that he'd been in here for a long time. After he shook his head a few times and blinked away the sudden blindness, he turned back towards Dave, who was in the process of standing. "I know you said I don't need to thank you, but.. thanks again. If you ever need _anything-_"

"Oh, no, no, don't worry about it. You don't need to do anything for me," he insisted. "But, um, there _is_ something you have to deal with- that little Abigail girl? She's, uh.. she's.." Drake walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry about it, I'll get someone to take care of it. Now get cracking before your master gets suspicious." he encouraged, walking back and holding the door open for him. He walked Dave to the elevator and opened it for him.

"Now don't go following any more strange sorcerers," he laughed, trying to lighten up the situation. Drake snerked, putting a knuckle to his lips. It made Dave happy to see him laughing at his comment. "Seriously, though.. be careful. Horvath is out there somewhere." Drake nodded as Dave stepped into the elevator.

"You too. I doubt he's going to be too happy about you beating Morgana. You.. did beat Morgana, right?" he asked. Dave had almost forgotten that Drake had been incapacitated for the fight against Morgana, despite having just revived him.

"Of course I did. That's my job." he said as the door slid closed and the elevator began to descend.

* * *

Dave grimaced as he glanced at his watch, noticing how late it was. He'd been expecting the trip to Drake's to be short, but because he got caught up after saving him, it was now almost nine thirty. When he came in the door, trying to be as quiet and inconspicuous as possible, Balthazar looked up from what he was reading at the kitchen table and lowered his glasses.

"That was an awfully long trip to Becky's and back." he noted, turning back to his book as Dave kicked his shoes off and hissed.

"I, uh- I took the scenic route." he said, walking over and collapsing onto the couch, letting out a loud sigh.

"You're a-"

"-bad liar, I know." Dave cut him off mid sentence and rolled over onto his side, using one arm as a pillow.

"Where'd you go?" Balthazar asked, licking his thumb and turning the page.

"Nowhere special," he lied again, hoping that Balthazar would uncharacteristically _not_ call him out on _that_ one. Luckily for him, however, Balthazar merely raised and eyebrow at him and shook his head a little. Clearly he didn't see it as worth prying into, which Dave was thankful for. Like he had told Drake, he couldn't imagine that Balthazar would approve of his rescuing him. "Where's Veronica?" His attempt to change the subject was extremely thinly veiled, but it thankfully worked.

"Oh, I sent her over to the hotel," he said, slipping his bookmark in to keep his place. "I just thought it would be a good idea for me to wait here for you to remind you that you'll be getting up _early_ tomorrow morning for training." Dave groaned.

"Balthazar, I just defeated Morgana. I know that doesn't mean my training is finished but can't I have at _least_ a one day break?" he asked, sitting up and looking at Balthazar pleadingly. "We could.." The light bulb going off in his head was practically visible. "We could go look at apartments instead." he suggested. Balthazar raised both eyebrows at him, tucking his book into his jacket.

"Looking at apartments?" he repeated. Dave nodded.

"You guys can't stay in a hotel forever," he pointed out. "and there's definitely not enough room in _this_ apartment for all of us. Bennet just got a new job, he can pay the rent on this place on his own. And I can get a new job, too. We'll be able to afford some place a little bigger, a little more storage space- hey, maybe we can even get some place closer to the lab so we don't have to commute as far." Balthazar considered the option, tilting his head side to side.

"I suppose we could do that instead," he relented. "You'd still have to get up bright and early, though."

"Bright and early is practically my middle name," he replied, giving him an awkward grin. He really _was_ used to getting up early; he'd had mostly morning classes since freshman year, trying to leave afternoons free for various part-time jobs and such. "I'll set my alarm for six. Is that early enough?" he asked jokingly. Balthazar gave him a little smile.

"For tomorrow, sure."


	2. Breeding Secrets

**A/N: **Sorry for the slightly uneventful chapter, I'm trying to a) avoid making them _too_ long and b) work on characterization a little more. Next chapter has more thing happening, I promise.

* * *

**There's Something About Dave  
**_Chapter Two_

Dave piled the box he was carrying on top of the other, similar boxes stacked in the corner of the room. The apartment they'd chosen was a lot bigger than the one he and Bennet had shared, although that may just have been because of the fact that there wasn't any junk cluttering it up. It was even fairly clean, aside from the fine layer of dust that covered every surface; even the real estate agent had apparently been unable to banish it.

The three of them had fallen in love with the apartment upon first seeing it, although it was a bit out of their price range, and had snapped it up as soon as absolutely possible. It had two bedrooms, a full bathroom, _and_ came fully furnished. Dave was, of course, wondering how they were going to afford the rent, but Balthazar had told him not to worry about it and that they'd find some way to come up with the money each month. The idea _had_ crossed his mind that they could simply magic up some money, but he doubted it was possible; other spells all had a scientific ground to them in the manipulation of matter, but there was nothing scientific about creating something from nothing. Besides, he doubted using their magic to pay the rent was something Balthazar would approve of. 'No shortcuts', as he always said.

As he went to take another box from the moving truck waiting outside, his phone rang in his pocket. He fumbled to grab it and hit the talk button, holding it up to his ear.

"Hello?" On the other end of the line he could hear the din of voices in the background, along with light, classical string music.

"'ello, love," greeted the person on the other end. The heavy accent, air of confidence, and affectionate nickname were more than enough to tell him who he was addressing. "What have you been getting up to?" Dave cast a quick glance at Balthazar, who was standing in the middle of the living room and levitating boxes into their appropriate rooms now that they were away from prying eyes.

"Hey, give me a second," he said, headed for the door. Balthazar looked away from the boxes he was floating into the larger of the two bedrooms and gave him a questioning look. He merely pointed to the phone he was holding to his shoulder and held up his finger in a 'give me a minute' gesture.

Once he was safely in the stairwell at the end of the hall, he put the phone back to his ear. "Hello, Drake. Sorry about that," he said, leaning back against the wall of the landing between floors. "Not to uh, be rude or anything, but how'd you get my number?" he asked.

"I looked up your phone number and called your old apartment, but your roommate said you didn't live there any more and gave me your cell number," he replied, talking just loud enough for Dave to hear him over the voices and music in the background. "You busy?"

"Yeah, kind of," He brushed a hand through his hair, giving a little nod to a woman who was passing him in the stairway. "I'm sort of in the process of moving into a new apartment."

"What about later this evenin'? Say, seven thirty?" Drake asked. As Dave was pondering his question, he heard the performer turn away from the phone and say to someone beside him, 'no, it's just a friend' before he put the phone back up to his ear. "So? Think you'll be able to take enough time out of your busy schedule to spend an hour or so with me?"

"Um- maybe, but may I ask for what?" he said, shoving his free hand into his pocket. He looked down at his old man shoes as Drake laughed a little.

"Nothing sinister, I promise," he replied. "I just want to thank you _properly_ for saving my life. And I promise it'll be much more worth it than my _last _thank you." Dave couldn't help but laugh when he said that, despite reddening slightly at the memory. He'd never expected to _ever_ kiss another man, let alone one that had once tried to kill him, but as much as he hated to admit it, he really hadn't minded it all that much. The thought unsettled him a little, but he shook it off.

He looked around to see if Balthazar had come to find him like he had a habit of doing. "You don't have to do that, you know," he said, sort of folding into himself again. Occasionally someone would come up or down the staircase as they were talking, but he'd been very good at blending into the walls up to this point in his life and now was no different. "I didn't do it because I wanted-"

"I know you didn't. You're mister Goody-Two-Shoes, you did it out of the kindness of your own heart, et cetera. Doesn't mean I don't want to thank you for it," Drake replied. "So. Seven thirty?"

"Um, yeah, I guess, sure, but I don't exactly have a car so you'll have to tell me what train to get on and what stop to get off on." Drake laughed at the statement.

"I'll be picking you up, of course," he said. "Silver SUV. I just need your address," Dave heard him turn away and almost drop the phone, sounding rushed when he returned. "Hey, I've got to run, so text it to me, okay?"

"O-" Dave heard a distinct click and the sweet sound of silence, and he pulled his phone away from his ear and looked down at it in confusion. "-kay." While wondering exactly what had just happened, he stuffed his phone back into his pocket and jogged up the stairs to the floor his apartment was on. When he walked back in, Balthazar turned to look at him.

"Who was that, Dave?" he asked.

"Just a friend who wants to hang out tonight," he answered. He knew Balthazar was about to pry further, so he quickly changed the subject. "Do you guys mind grabbing the last couple of boxes? I'm going to go start unpacking." Before Balthazar could say anything else, Dave slipped into his room and locked the door behind him. Once inside, he sighed and turned his attention to the first box. He knew that Balthazar was eventually going to find out that Drake had survived and he also knew that if he questioned him about it, he would never be able to fool him. He just hoped that he'd have time enough to come up with a good defence.

* * *

Balthazar watched as Dave's door closed and locked, pursing his lips.

"There's something wrong with him," he said. Veronica looked up from opening the first box of kitchen things they had bought for the apartment; she was rather new to a lot of technology, including most of what they had bought, but her organizational skills were completely unaffected by the fact that she'd suddenly ended up more than a thousand years in the future. "He's even jumpier than usual, and he's clearly hiding something from me." She smiled at him, setting the new plates on the counter.

"He _is_ a young man, Balthazar. Like any young person, there are going to be things he wants to keep secret," she pointed out, loading the plates into the cupboards. Without really thinking about it, he began to help her, unloading some of the utensils and cookware from other boxes. "Just give him some time. One way or another, you will find out what he is hiding. Just don't do anything rash simply because you're paranoid."

Balthazar blinked at her a few times, furrowing his eyebrows a little. "Paranoid? _Me?_" She turned towards him and gave him a dry look, her hands still moving automatically to put more dishes away. "Okay, I get the point. But I think my worry is at least a _little_ warranted. I mean, he _is_ my apprentice. Besides, just because he beat Morgana, it doesn't mean that he's immortal. I want to make sure he's not getting into anything dangerous."

"I may have only known Dave for a week, but he does not seem like the kind of person who would get involved in dangerous things," she said, pulling out some pots and pans. She held them up, silently questioning where they went, and Balthazar walked over and opened the two-parted cupboard beside the stove. "You should trust him a bit more, my love. Imagine if Merlin had kept you on that short of a leash."

"Dave isn't me. He isn't as responsible, he's not as well prepared..." He trailed off when Veronica gave him another dry look. "Would you _please_ stop doing that? I get it. I'm being paranoid. I'll be quiet now." Veronica gave him a little smile and walked over to him, pushing his messy hair away from his eyes and giving him a quick kiss.

"Just keep unpacking. It will take your mind off of things."

* * *

Dave fell backwards onto his newly made bed; all of his clothes, books and various knickknacks were finally unpacked, he was dressed and groomed to the best of his abilities, and Balthazar hadn't tried to talk to him once the entire time. Normally that would worry him, but since he was _trying_ to avoid him, he felt incredibly fortuitous.

He quickly glanced at his watch, far more anxious about Drake's arrival than he was really comfortable with. He tried to convince himself it was just the thought of Balthazar finding out about his helping Drake, but he wasn't any better at lying to himself than he was at lying to other people.

Trying to distract himself from the time, he looked over at his dresser where Drake's ring was sitting. He'd been meaning to give it to him if he found him alive when he went to his penthouse, but he'd immediately had second thoughts; after all, he _was _a Morganian. Letting him live was one thing, but trusting him with his powers after what he'd done was another matter entirely. At the same time, it didn't feel right keeping the ring from him; it was _his_, after all, and Dave had his suspicions that he wouldn't be performing any shows without it. He'd seen bits and pieces of most of his DVD's thanks to Bennet, who owned all of them, and there was zero explanation as to how he did some of his tricks without _real_ magic.

He almost rolled right off his bed when his phone vibrated in his pocket, and he fumbled to pull it out. He'd been _expecting_ the text, of course, because he'd asked in _his_ text to Drake that he do so when he pulled up outside of the building, but it still surprised him. Grabbing his bag, he hastily shoved the ring in his pocket. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with it, but keeping it with him didn't hurt.

Racing out of his room and towards the front door, he almost collided head-on with Balthazar, who'd been clearly about to break his streak of good luck by coming to talk to him.

"Hey, sorry I couldn't help you guys unpack, I was just getting ready for my, er.. outing." he said, unable to think of a better word. Balthazar nodded.

"It's understandable. I'm just curious as to why you're spending your evening going out with a friend instead of with Becky. I mean, she _is_ the girl you risked our entire mission for." he pointed out. Dave pursed his lips and bobbed his head side to side.

"Yeah, but it's not like we need to go out _every_ night. Besides, my friend was really insistent," As he spoke, he tried to manoeuvre around Balthazar, but Balthazar continuously moved into his path. "Look, as much as I'd _love_ to stay and talk, he's waiting for me outside. Can we please save whatever sort of conversation you're trying to stall me to have for when I get back?" Before his master could answer his question, he ducked around him while he was considering his response.

"Dave.." he called after him, but Dave just turned and gave him a little apologetic smile.

"I'll call you when I'm on my way home, okay? And I'll make sure I'm home in time to get good rest so I can train tomorrow." he offered as an apology before slipping out the door and practically running down the hall. He jumped down the stairwell, skipping five or six stairs at a time to try and reach the bottom faster. When he practically body slammed his way through the front door, momentum made him almost run right into the silver SUV parked right in front of the entrance. He heard the driver laugh and almost flipped him off, but was glad he didn't when the window rolled down and Drake leaned over from the driver's seat, smiling at him.

"In a hurry, love?" he asked. Dave rolled his eyes at the nickname and inhaled deeply, opening the passenger door and sliding into the passenger seat.

"Didn't want to keep you waiting," he replied, letting out a little gasp. After carting all of the boxes from the moving truck up four stories without the aid of the elevator, thanks to it being out of order, the run down the same four stories to get to the entrance, he was extremely tired. "So, why did you want me to go out with you tonight?" Drake laughed at how he phrased his sentence, which caused Dave to immediately realize what he'd said. "I mean- why did you want me to _accompany _you out- why'd you want me- oh, forget it. Why am I here?"

"What, you're not just here to bask in the pleasure of my company? Clearly I'm doing something wrong, most people would give an arm and a leg for the opportunity." he said, pulling into traffic. Dave pulled on his seat belt and settled back into the ridiculously comfortable leather passenger seat. He wasn't surprised at all that Drake's SUV came with all the bells and whistles- the number of buttons on the radio control panel alone made even a physics major like himself a little frightened, he could feel the bottom of his thighs heating up from the seat warmers and the upholstery was genuine, extremely soft leather.

_What a world,_ Dave thought, snorting a little laugh at Drake's response, partially in sarcasm and partially genuinely. "Yeah, I know a few people who definitely would. Seriously, though." Drake let out an annoyed exhale at the long line of traffic in front of them, and settled back into his own chair while they waited.

"I told you, I want to thank you properly. And don't even _try _to tell me 'I don't have to' because I really don't want to hear it," he replied, reaching over to turn on the radio. Quiet eighties music filled the SUV and Drake whistled along, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Dave looked at the radio, then at Drake, in bewilderment. "Something on my face?" Drake asked with a smirk.

"I didn't really peg you as an eighties music kind of guy, that's all." Dave said, looking away from Drake immediately. Drake snorted a little as he pulled into the left lane, preparing to turn at the next intersection.

"Isn't 'don't judge a book by its cover' one of those goody-goody morals you're supposed to adhere to like superglue?" he asked, leaning back in his seat again. He glared at the traffic as though it would simply part at his stare. Dave wondered if he was like this every time he drove in New York traffic.

"I'm sort of new to this whole 'goody-goody' thing, you know," he pointed out, trying his hardest not to laugh at Drake's frustration. Drake gave him a dry look and a little grin, and Dave looked back with a sort of 'deer in the headlights' kind of look. "What? What's with the look?"

"Let's just say you're not exactly the 'bad boy' type, love." he replied. From behind them, a car honked at how long they were taking to move forward, the conversation having distracted Drake from noticing that traffic was moving again. In response he rolled down the window and stuck his arm out of it, flipping the driver behind them off, before pulling ahead and turning to the left. Dave wasn't particularly familiar with this part of the city and really had _no_ idea where they were going, but he doubted it was anywhere within his normal price range anyway.

"And how do _you_ know? Aside from the whole trying to kill me thing, you've only known me for like, a _day_." Drake smirked at him as he was talking.

"Well then, let me take a few guesses. You've never been in jail, or even arrested, first of all." he said, drumming along to the current song on the radio. Dave crossed his arms over his chest and pursed his lips a little.

"Okay, that one's sort of a given." he said, watching street signs carefully. He'd been sort of absorbing Balthazar's paranoia over the past week, and even though he _wanted_ to trust Drake, there was a part of him that kept reminding him _about_ the fact that he'd tried to kill him.

"If you found a wallet on the street you'd make an actual effort to find the owner, and even if you didn't you'd turn it into the police instead of taking the money in it, even if it's only a dollar." he continued. Dave rolled his eyes.

"..yeah." he admitted.

"You never cheated on a test in your life," Drake said, pulling onto a street to the right. "And you've never nicked anything from a store, even when you were just a kid..."

"Okay, okay, I get the point. I'm the stereotypical good guy. The kind of guy mom's _dream_ of for their daughters. Etcetera etcetera." He couldn't help but laugh at the cheeky grin on Drake's face. "You're an ass."

"And yet you're in my passengers seat." he pointed out. Dave rolled his eyes, unable to deny it.

"Against my better judgement, since you won't even tell me where we're going." he muttered. Drake just laughed.

"That's because it's _supposed_ to be a surprise. Stop trying to spoil it for yourself," he said, turning the radio up. "You'll see when we get there, anyway. Might be a bit of a drive, though."

"Careful, if you keep me fore too long Balthazar might think you're kidnapping me." Dave warned, leaning his head against the window. Even though it was hot outside, it being the start of summer, the air conditioning in the van made the windows cold to the touch. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, furrowing his brow in slight confusion when Drake became eerily silent. This whole time he'd either been speaking or laughing or humming, constantly making _some_ kind of noise, but now he was completely quiet.

"Does he know you're with me?" he asked, sounding surprisingly serious. He looked away from the window and turned to look at the Morganian, who was decidedly stern faced and was keeping his eyes strictly on the road.

"He.. knows I'm out with someone. I didn't tell him _who_. Why?" Of course he'd avoided telling Balthazar, there was no way this would be in any way acceptable in his eyes. If anyone was the _real_ goody-goody, it was him. Morganians were always bad and had to be gotten rid of. He spent over a thousand years eliminating them, after all.

"..no reason. So what, you have to be home before your bedtime?" he asked with a little chuckle, going back to normal. Dave raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't pry. It really wasn't any of his business. Drake was just taking him out to a mysterious (but presumably expensive, judging by everything he owned) location as thanks for saving his life, thanks he really didn't want or need. He had to admit, though- he'd been the one to agree to it, sort of. And it didn't pain him to be here or anything. Drake was strangely nice for someone who had tried to kill him.

He returned the laugh and grinned, replying with a simple, "Basically."


End file.
